Jimmy Dack: It’s an honour to work with Mark Yates

Crawley Town’s new assistant manager Jimmy Dack is a familiar name to long-standing Reds fans after previously spending two spells as a player in the 1990s and early 2000s.

He admits his soft spot for the club plus his good relationship with manager Mark Yates were two keys reasons for him coming back.

It’s not going to happen overnight but once Mark Yates has stamped his mark on the team and brought in some quality, I would want to get promotion back to League 1.”

Crawley Town assistant manager Jimmy Dack

Dack, 43, said: “There are two reasons I took the job - one is I live in Surrey just half an hour from the ground and played nearly 100 matches and have some good memories.

“The second is I was pleased to work with Mark Yates who is a good guy and it was an honour to work with him.

“He’s a hard-working manager who wants his teams to prepare to do as well as possible.

“It’s not going to happen overnight but once Mark Yates has stamped his mark on the team and brought in some quality, I would want to get promotion back to League 1.

“It’s a rebuilding process. It’s a case of getting the confidence back in the team. You’ve got to get the best out of the team every game.

“We’ve worked with tight budgets and done alright with them. It’s a case of getting the players playing for the manager.”

Dack was offered the manager’s position at his previous club Newport County where he was No.2 to former Tottenham player Justin Edinburgh before stepping up into the hotseat as caretaker manager when Edinburgh left for Gillingham.

Dack helped Newport gain promotion into League 2 from the Conference. In two seasons back in the league they finished 14th and ninth.

In November 2013, Newport knocked Crawley out of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy in the second round with a 3-2 victory.

Dack admitted he turned down a chance to extend his stay in South Wales by leaving the Exiles at the end of the season.

He said: “I did four seasons at Newport and enjoyed it but the travelling was taking its toll. I was 4-4.5 hours a day in the car and needed a fresh challenge. I’m really looking forward to working at Crawley Town again.”

Crawley have offered a new contract to utility player Bobson Bawling and short-term deals to Josh Simpson, Conor Henderson and Kelly Youga. Yates is currently having talks with his existing playing staff about staying on, including topscorer Izale McLeod.

Yates has indicated he will not be offering new contracts to goalkeepers Brian Jensen or Lewis Price, while Dean Morgan, who was offered a contact, confirmed this week he would be leaving the club.

Supporters have the chance to meet Yates and Dack at a fans’ forum tonight (Wednesday) from 7pm in the Mayo Wynne Baxter Suite at the Checkatrade.com Stadium.

Follow our live commentary from the forum live on Twitter at @GrinnerObby

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